A/N: This chapter signifies the end of this story, but not the end of Vindy- or any of the others in the Pink-Verse. I've absolutely adored writing for Andy Flynn & Virginia Dixon, and can't wait to continue their romance. Thank you for loving them, and each of your fantastic reviews. I thank Happymisa so very much, for asking for a Andy/Virginia pairing, and hope that I've done the finale to this, justice. WebMD has been a huge source of medical information, and I thank them, too! Enjoy!
Seattle, 6wks later...
The Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital lab tech jumped, upon seeing a less than familiar face in her workplace.
Elite, attending physicians, and those such as Dr. Dixon, did not lower themselves to visit the testing lab themselves. That job was always delegated to orderlies or residents, per their Attending- not highly respected surgeons such as her.
Virginia jumped back, in equal surprise. She'd assumed that the lab would be closed, at the current hour.
"Um... Dr. Dixon- what are you do-"
The woman hummed and narrowed her eyes, before replying, "The same could be asked of you."
The tech blushed to her toes. "Sometimes I like to get a jump on the day, before things get too cray- I mean, busy."
Virginia then smiled, as she was of the same opinion.
"I'm here to analyze blood."
The tech stared at the surgeon, and then giggled nervously. Dr. Dixon's reputation for being a little off, preceded her, and she vowed to do her best to interpret her wishes.
"I can help with that- I mean, if you- I, uh..."
Virginia did not want to mess around, and moved past the younger woman, on her way to the bank of microscopes.
Once there, the doctor retrieved a vial of blood from her lab coat. In doing so, she noticed the joined rings on the ring finger of her right hand.
A number of her colleagues at the hospital, especially Dr. Miranda Bailey, had seen the delicate baubles, and inquired on their meaning.
"Looks like someone picked up a little bling, down in L.A... Does it come attached, with a big hunky guy, by any chance?"
To which, Virginia had only smiled a thin Mona Lisa line of rose.
"Yes. Yes, it does."
Her friend grinned broadly, then giggled conspiratorially, as they walked the halls together towards the OR.
"Then tell me all about him!"
Back in the present, the lab tech watched as Dr. Dixon stared at the vial of blood with hesitation.
Virginia wanted so very much to be pregnant with Andy Flynn's child. But the odds of conceiving naturally, given her age, worked against her. She snapped on a pair of latex gloves, and the scent took her back to a certain lieutenant, and the condoms that they'd used. Everything reminded her of him.
While visiting a patient in their room, she'd overheard a sports report touting a new hot prospect for the Dodgers...
An article in the New England Journal of Medicine, on good back health...
Red suspenders on a man at Pike Place Market...
Even waking in the morning- or even in the middle of the night, reminded her of the Leftenant.
Prior to him, Virginia had never enjoyed sharing a bed with a lover. Hearing their breathing... feeling their body next to own... But with Andy, all of that was a very welcome and glorious thing.
She missed his scent on the pillow next to her, and the roughness of his stubbled cheeks against her flesh.
Virginia missed him beyond words, and it was a feeling that she did not like at all...
The woman needed to get this test done- and she needed to know if she was pregnant with her lover's baby... right now!
"Doctor?"
The tech, who had become ensconced in her own work, jumped again, at the red-haired woman's address. Very few, regarded the Intern, who'd chosen a life in lab research, as a doctor in her own right- so, she felt quite honored when Dr. Dixon referred to her as such.
"Yes?"
Virginia produced a pink post-it note with a short list of supplies printed neatly on it, and handed it to the young doctor.
"I need these items, please."
Dr. Kim scanned the list, and nodded before retrieving the needed chemicals. Upon her return, she caught sight of Dr. Dixon's vial of blood.
"Is one of your patients pregnant?"
Virginia paled, and forced a small smile. Of course, the younger woman knew what her list was for. Such knowledge embarrassed Virginia, but it also quietly excited her.
"I don't know," Virginia stated after a long beat.
Within a week of conception, the hormone known as hCG, or human chorionic gonadotropin, is found in the potential mother's blood. If tested too early, a false reading can be made, as many factors can cause fluctuations in the hormone. When a woman is indeed and truly pregnant, the numbers grow higher as the duration of gestation continues.
Dr. Dixon knew all of this, and waited until now to test her own blood.
As it was, she did not trust the results of the selection of early pregnancy tests that she'd had her assistant purchase for her.
And her cycle was a month overdue...
She felt fine, except for being a little tired.
Virginia chalked it off to her busy schedule, and the beginning stages of her move to L.A.
Tory Foster was not happy, but would follow her boss through the gates of hell- so she too, was relocating to Hollywood.
"I hope so," Virginia spoke again.
Dr. Kim smiled bigly, at her superior. "Then let's find out if there's a baby on the way, shall we?"
Virginia hummed in quiet, but excited reply. "Yes. Thank you."
###
She needed to pass the time in a productive manner...
The NICU was not far, and it gave Dr. Dixon an opportunity to check on one of her littlest patients.
The newborn was doing wonderfully, following her impossible journey to birth. Dr. Dixon had operated on the baby's heart, en-utero, three months prior to birth, and appeared to have been a success, as she and her parents were due to go home later that day.
The child's father was there, exhausted but happy, and he greeted Virginia with a greatful smile.
"Doctor, I don't know how to tha-"
Virginia shook her head. "No. It was my job. I do hearts. Even baby hearts need fixing, sometimes, and that is what I did."
The man nodded. "I just hope that my wife and I can do right by her. I have to say... I'm scared."
Virginia hummed, as she knew the young man had good reason to fear for the child, as the parents had learned early on in their pregnancy that she would be needing care right from the start. However, there was more than hope for her, and the little one had a very large extended family that were fighting right along side her.
"You will be fine. And so will she," Virginia pronounced.
The father grinned. "You know, we named her for you? My wife and I both agreed on Dixie- after the Badass surgeon that saved her life."
Virginia blushed and stared at the floor, before finally nodding and thanking the man, and then taking her leave.
###
An hour later, the test was ready to read...
She wished so very much that Andy were there with her. It was selfish to be going through all of this without him, but if test was negative...
He would be such a good father. Loving and strong. Supportive and funny, and all of the other wonderful qualities that was the man that was Andy Flynn.
The man who stole her heart...
Virginia's oath, said in the quietest of whispers, was a shock to her own ears.
"Please, God... I have never believed... but the Leftenant does... and..."
Virginia checked the test result, as the young doctor looked on quietly...
And then, with tears in her eyes, she hugged a perfect stranger for the first time in her life.
He was right back where he'd started from...
Well, maybe not exactly, but it felt that way...
Andy missed her beyond words.
In the beginning, they talked nightly- before bed, or as their work schedules dictated. Since both were on the West Coast, they had the same time zone, which made things a little easier.
He and Virginia talked about everything and nothing, and all the things in between.
"Sharon says that Kacey may be cutting a tooth."
"Yeah. Life's a bitch, even when you're a baby."
"She will be fine."
"Yeah, but will Castillo?"
Virginia's soft hum traversed the miles.
"No."
Other topics leaned more seriously than a first tooth, and Virginia never failed to soothe Andy's heart.
"How do you deal with it, Doc? Death, right around the corner... this new case of ours- it's... I just wanna turn it off..."
"One of the aspects of Aspergers is seeing the world in very black and white terms. It has made me be able to succeed in my job quite easily. But you, Andy Flynn, see and feel- in living color. It makes you who you are- the man I love, and who I cannot wait to be with. Please do not ever turn off your wonderful soul."
And he worried about her- and their possible little Whozit.
"How do you feel, Doc? A little pukey?"
"Pukey, Leftenant?"
"Yeah, it's a medical term."
Virginia giggled, and it made Andy smile.
"I do not recall learning that one."
"My mother used it all the time, and she was practically a doctor. So... are you starting to have morning sickness yet? It's been awhile now, and-"
"No."
Andy sighed, and he heard Virginia hum from across the miles that separated them.
"Male fetuses are kinder to their mothers than females, and cause the least number of cases of morning sickness."
Andy perked up at that- and then he heard Virginia giggle again.
"My mother went to the same medical school as yours."
Eventually, as their time apart increased, the phone chats between them dwindled. Calls were replaced with texts, and then short emails, and then- nothing.
Andy was worried, and feared the worst.
While he wanted nothing more than to have a baby with Virginia, he wanted to be with her, even more- however, he wondered if she, in fact, truly knew that. It was Virginia, that Andy loved, more than anything- not just some hypothetical dream, and he feared that she doubted him.
If Virginia wasn't pregnant, she could very well have forgotten him, thinking that if there was no baby, then they had no future together.
Andy's fears were starting to get the best of him, and when Provenza nagged at him to ante up for using his printer, the pot finally boiled over.
Captain Raydor arrived On the scene, carrying the cherubic Kacey Thrace-Adams, just as Andy lit into his partner.
Det. Sanchez playfully put his hands up, and smiled innocently. "It wasn't me, Ma'am."
Sharon hid her smile behind her granddaughters fuzzy blond head, and nodded.
"Andy- my office- NOW."
Dutifully, Lt. Flynn did as his superior ordered, and followed Sharon into her inner sanctum, amid giggles and chuckles from the other members of their team.
###
Once the door to her office was closed, Sharon counted to ten, and then- instead of placing Kacey in her Pack 'N Play, she gently thrust the baby into Andy's arms.
The baby snuggled into him, tucking her head under his chin and drooling on his pink tie.
"Better?"
Andy sighed, as he cupped the baby's bottom. "Yeah."
Sharon hummed, as she busied herself at her desk. She'd been witness to Lt. Flynn's prickly moods for a week now, and she was ready to be done with them so they could back to normal.
"This is about Virginia."
Andy hummed in reply to Sharon's statement, and it sounded like a cute squeak, but since Kacey was trying to grab at his nose, that may have had something to do with it.
"She's gone dark," Sharon declared of her cousin. "I was afraid that this would happen. It's textbook Virginia."
"It's happened before?"
Captain Raydor sighed. "Yes, when she is very focused on a project, or-"
"Troubled by something?" Andy guessed.
"Yes."
"Does she do it often?"
"No, thank God. When we last talked, she said that she'd reached an agreement with Cedars-Sinai, for a position with their cardiac unit, and Tory was gathering real estate listings for living spaces for both of them here in the L.A. area. She sounded happy, and that things were moving forward."
"When was that?" Andy asked, as Kacey made a play for his Adam's Apple.
Sharon blushed, and forced a smile. "Two days ago."
"Frakking hell- sorry, Kid," Andy said with an added kiss to the baby's cheek. The little one smelled of baby powder and her Mimi's perfume. "Why would Virginia talk to you, and not me?"
Sharon stood, and pressed her hands together as she covered the distance between her desk and Lt. Flynn.
"She's always been able to talk to me. You've seen how close we are, and that is a habit that is going to be very hard to break for her."
"Yeah, I get that."
"And," Sharon drawled. "Virginia is going through quite a lot right now. As happy as she is, a very large chapter of her life is closing. Virginia liked her life in Seattle. It was hers, and hers alone. She made it, and it was good."
"I get that, too"
Sharon patted Andy on his shoulder, as Kacey reached out for her. "Have patience with Virginia. She wants this new life with you, here, but it's got to be on her terms and on her schedule. Okay?"
Andy sighed, as he passed the baby to Sharon.
"Okay."
Sharon smiled- at Kacey, and then at him. "Good."
Andy smiled back at them both, finally.
"Is Castillo coming by soon, to pick up Kacey?"
"Yes. He's bringing lunch, and the three of us are going to have a picnic in my office, before he picks up Rusty from school and takes each of them home."
Andy smiled at the picture of their domestic bliss.
"Sounds like a nice plan. Tell him hi for me, and if you don't mind, I think I'm gonna take a break myself and get some air, and maybe some lunch. Is that okay, Captain?"
Sharon hummed with love, for the man before her. "Yes, Lieutenant. Go with God, but go!"
###
Twenty minutes later, in swept Dr. Virginia Dixon, dutifully followed by her assistant.
All activity in the room stopped, as Sharon Raydor's lookalike cousin scanned the room, in search of her lover.
Meanwhile, Tory Foster, phone in hand, sized up each of the team members and thinned her lips. By the looks of things, and according to her intel gathering, most of the members of the Major Crimes unit was on hand.
Lt. Louie Provenza: He reminded her of a small, overcompensating dog with a very big bite.
Lt. Mike Tao: Attention to detail, and not afraid to be proud of it. She liked his bald head.
Det. Julio Sanchez: The wounded man had good reason to be angry. His dossier listed numerous citations, but his eyes showed a gentle soul.
Det. Amy Sykes: Beautiful and driven. Major threat to all. Tory liked and disliked her equally.
Buzz Watson: The civilian, was in charge of surveillance and all aspects of technology, while also serving as a reserve officer. He seemed to be quite knowledgeable and competent in his job. Still, Tory considered him to be a Beta Male.
They'd ridden up in the elevator with Assistant Chief Russell Taylor, and Deputy District Attorney Andrea Hobbs. Virginia had already met the chief, and the man was quite charmed by her. Taylor was a total badass, and Tory liked him immensely, and thought that it was a shame that he was married.
Hobbs was also a badass, and someone that could run for office, politically, in the future. Tory made note of this, mentally, as she would want to be on her team, greatly.
But noticeably absent was Lt. Andy Flynn, and it was causing much dyspepsia in Virginia Dixon.
"Where is he?"
Provenza snorted playfully. "Do you mean the- Leftenant?"
Virginia stared down Andy's partner, as he sat at his desk, and before blood could be drawn, the door to the captain's office opened and her cousin emerged. She was followed by Martin Castillo, who held the infant Kacey, and the trio was a sight to behold.
"I need to see Andy. I have something to tell him," Virginia said of her lover.
Sharon resisted the urge to shout with joy, but it was Castillo's own emotions that betrayed him, and he broke out in a grin that shocked all of the Major Crimes squad.
"You just missed him," Sharon soothed. "He needed a break, and decided to take lunch early. I'm sorry, I don't know where he went."
Virginia hummed, and then smiled shyly.
"I do."
His cardiologist would not have approved of the hotdog with all of the trimmings, but Andy decided to break his diet rules and treat himself to the tasty indulgence.
The walk in the park, would hopefully offset such bad behavior...
He missed Virginia so much...
Sitting on their bench helped a little, but not much.
She wasn't pregnant.
He decided that, finally. Their time together at the cabin was a nice dream, but reality hit, and now was now.
Andy sighed heavily, as he stared at the ground where the clump of clover still grew.
So lost in contemplative thought, he never noticed when the beautiful redhead joined him on the bench.
"One in ten thousand."
Stunned, Andy turned to find the woman he loved, smiling back at him.
"The odds of finding a four leaf clover are actually one in ten thousand, Leftenant."
Andy chuckled, before kissing Virginia tenderly. "Those are some pretty small statistics, Doc," he said once they parted.
"They are indeed. Better than the survival rate of human sperm, but we beat the odds, Leftenant."
After a long beat, realization hit home, and Andy could help but grin all the way to his eyes.
"We did it? We really did it? We're pregnant?"
"I'm pregnant- you, are not. But yes..."
Andy couldn't help but pull Virginia into a passionate kiss which she willingly responded to in kind. Her tongue sought his, and everything but their love and the tiny being in her womb, melted away.
"How long are you here for?" Andy asked, hoping that Virginia would say forever.
He'd taken her home, thanks to a text from Sharon, dismissing him for the rest of the day- and night.
There, after a brief tour of his modest house, and ignoring his back, Andy swept Virginia off her feet and carried her to his bedroom where they finally made love to each other after so much time apart.
"The weekend," Virginia replied with a frown, as it was already Friday. "I still have a month of commitments to complete, and then I can be here fully. It was not easy to negotiate leaving Seattle, but I have, and I cannot wait to be with you."
"Me too."
Virginia hummed as she listened to her lover's heart beneath her ear. Both of their bodies had a sheen of afterglow, and a shared bath might be in order soon, if they planned to go out for dinner later.
It was either that, or eat left over Chinese take-out in bed..
Which also sounded pretty good, actually...
"I have another gift for you, Leftenant."
She'd already given him so much, that Andy had no idea what more Virginia could give him. It all started with her heart and her love, which led to a baby- and then the positive pee stick test she'd taken back in Seattle.
He was the luckiest guy on earth, and didn't need anything else.
But then Virginia left the bed, and he watched as she padded naked to retrieve something from her bag in the living room.
She was so beautiful, that his breath was nearly taken from him, and the sight of her slightly puffy tummy gave him a permanent smile.
The neighbors might smile too, if they looked in the windows and saw a beautiful, naked redhead woman walking around his house!
Virginia returned a beat later, and joined him back beneath the covers.
"This is for you," she said as she placed a tiny drawstring bag made of forest green crushed velvet in his hands. It looked like something that Harry Potter might carry magic in, and to Virginia it was every bit as precious.
"What is it?" Andy asked cautiously. "Did you get it in Seattle? Is it weed?"
Virginia frowned, but then smiled playfully. "Open it, Leftenant, and you will find out!"
Andy couldn't help but grin, and did as he was told...
What he found inside, nearly stopped his heart...
"I had it made for you," Virginia explained with quiet pride.
It was a ring- and not just any ring, but a thick ombre band of brushed green and rose gold, stamped with the Irish Claddagh symbol for love, loyalty, and friendship. It looked like something that Catelyn Stark would have given her beloved Ned, from Game Of Thrones- if they were in our world, and Andy knew that it was sized perfectly to fit one of his fingers.
But which one?
Sensing his questioning mind, Virginia hummed and kissed her lover softly.
She knew the story of the Claddagh, and the many ways the ring could be worn.
The right hand meant, depending on the point of the heart, that the wearer was either in a relationship or looking for love...
On the left hand, however, it meant that they were engaged or married...
"Andy, when you gave me these beautiful rings on my finger, you made me incredibly happy. Not just because of the rings themselves, but for what they represent. They represent us... together... and in love. I wear them proudly, as you gave them to me, just as you've also given me the new life growing inside of me."
Andy nodded in quiet agreement, and was extremely touched by Virginia's shared feelings for his token to her.
"And it is for that reason that I give this ring to you. I love you, Leftenant- with all that is in me, and more."
Andy smiled as Virginia placed a hand to her tummy, in emphasis. She smiled too, when he covered it with one of his own.
Self consciously, Virginia hummed, before continuing.
"I said at the time- when we were together in the stone cottage, that I felt as though we were married- and you did as well."
Again, Andy nodded. "This is true," he replied with choked emotion.
Virginia favored him with another shy smile, and then took his free hand in hers.
"So with that said- and since we are to become parents, in less than seven months from now- will you marry me, Andy Flynn?"
His heart soared- and he wasn't quite sure if it was all just a beautiful dream, but somehow the words came, just as he and Virginia came together in a soul melding kiss.
"Yes... yes... yes..."
Andy kept uttering the word against Virginia's beautiful lips... in her hair, behind one of her ears... against her heaving breasts... and beyond!
Eventually, Virginia repeated that same word- "Yes!" as she came in her new fiancee's arms.
Again, basking in sleepy afterglow, they compared rings, while sharing kisses in the setting sun of evening. Virginia wore hers on her left ring finger, as Andy wore his there as well- with the heart pointed outward and towards his fingertip, signifying that he was indeed, an engaged man.
A whole new story was about to be told, in their lives together. It included not just them, but also Sharon & Castillo, and their wonderfully extended crew of blood and friends and family of the heart.
At the center of it all would be their own Little One, and the Leftenant and the Doc couldn't wait for it all to begin!
#END#
A/N #2: Once more, Andy & Virginia's steamier M-rated moments from this chapter may be found in another add-on chapter in Pink Hearts & Green Clovers: Deleted Scenes. Enjoy! ;)